One last New Zealand post

Late Friday morning we left Queenstown to head to Wanaka.  A few people had told us Wanaka was worth checking out and I am so glad that we talked to them.  Wanaka was beautiful.  The town is set alongside Lake Wanaka, which is bordered by snowcapped mountains.  While we were in Queenstown we decided that aside from seeing penguins (which was looking like it was unlikely) the only activity we still wanted to do while we were in New Zealand was check out a glacier.  I had read in our guidebook about a tour of the Tasman Glacier which is near Mount Cook.  The Tasman Glacier is the largest glacier in New Zealand and Mount Cook is the tallest mountain, so we figured both were things we couldn’t miss.  We went into the i-Site visitor center in Wanaka to see if we could book something for Saturday.  The woman at the information desk wasn’t sure if the glacier viewing season had started, but she gave the Glacier Explorers company a call for us to find out.  Turned out there was a tour leaving the next afternoon at 2:00 p.m. from Mount Cook Village, so we signed up.  

We had parked the Ark II in a parking lot along the lake and decided we would check out the town and maybe rent some bikes for the afternoon.  I used our GPS to find out how long it would take to drive to Mount Cook the next day, because I really wanted to stay in Wanaka for the night.  Lucky for us the drive to Mount Cook was only about 2.5 hours, so we decided to stay in Wanaka to explore the quaint town a little further.  Some other campervaners had referred us to the Aspiring Holiday Park, which had free internet and was close to town, so we decided that is where we would stay.  As we were sitting in the Ark II discussing our plan for the rest of the day/evening we felt the campervan lurch forward and heard a bang.  Someone ran into us.  Someone ran into our parked campervan.  I was startled but we were fine.  I turned around to see a man getting out of his car, he had pulled into the parking lot immediately behind us, and hit us.  Charles jumped out of the Ark II and began questioning the man driving the car.  After a few seconds we learned that the man who hit us was trying to block the way out of the parking lot because the car parked next to us was stolen.  The man who hit us and a few others had just located the vehicle and were trying to apprehend the suspect.  As we were standing there two police cars pulled up and put the suspect into one of the vehicles.  There was lots of commotion, a girl was in the car and she was escorted away to one of the other cars in the parking lot.  The man who hit us gave us a card and told us he was fully insured and would cover any damage.  Another man, also involved in the hunt for the stolen vehicle also gave us a card and explained they would cover any damage.  A few minutes later the police drove off with the alleged car thief and we were left in the parking lot by ourselves.  What a strange afternoon.  

Charles had inquired about bike rentals before the interruption of the stolen car saga, so we went and paid for a night at the holiday park and then went to rent our bicycles.  The guys at the bike shop could hardly believe it when we told them what had just happened – apparently things like that don’t generally happen in Wanaka.  We took our mountain bikes and helmets and headed for the suggested route around Lake Wanaka, to see where the lake outlet becomes the Clutha River.  

We had really big mountain bikes, I was a little overwhelmed at first by the size of my bike and it was much heavier and larger than the bike I ride in Houston.  After a few minutes of figuring out the gears and constantly reminding myself that the front and rear brakes were opposite my bike at home I was feeling more comfortable.  We had a great time riding around the lake, enjoying the mountain and lake views, and eventually getting to the outlet that becomes the Clutha River.  I admit, I did have a bit of a wipeout and thankfully Charles even got a picture for our friends and family at home: 

Wipe Out!

Biking Lake Wanaka

The bike ride and Wanaka were one of my favorite things about this trip.  After our bike ride we went back to the Ark II to hang out and enjoy the scenery.  The sunset that evening was amazing, it turned the snowcapped mountains a beautiful pink orange.  Since our groceries were dwindling and we were leaving in a few days we decided walking into town was the best plan for dinner.  It was a little over a mile from the park into town, but we enjoyed getting to use our headlamps and spend some time star gazing.  There were plenty of restaurant options in Wanaka, but after looking at a few menus in the window we chose a spot called Water Bar.  The food was delicious – calamari salad with a chili citrus dressing and braised lamb with polenta.  Overall, Wanaka tops my list of some of the favorite towns we visited.  If we ever get back to New Zealand I definitely want to spend more time there.

Sunset over the mountains in Wanaka

 Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Aoraeki/Mount Cook.  It took us a couple of hours to get there, but we didn’t mind because it was a gorgeous drive.  As we neared Mount Cook we drove along LakePukaki, which is a beautiful blue green color because it is formed by glacial melt.  We checked in for our trip at the Hermitage historic hotel in Mount Cook Village and had just enough time to make sandwiches in the Ark II before we set out on the tour.  When we gathered with the tour guides in the lobby of the hotel we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was just us and one other couple on the tour.  The two guides, Bede and Martin, loaded the four of us into the hotel van for a short drive further into Mount Cook National Park.  From there we had to walk about 15 minutes to a lake that sits at the base of the Tasman Glacier.  Once at the lake, Bede took the four of us out in a boat on the lake, which was 2 degrees Celsius (which is about 35 degrees Farenheit).   We each stuck our hand in the water, about 8 seconds was long enough for me – it was freezing! 

After a little bit of safety information Bede began the informational part of the trip, he drove us around to the various icebergs floating in the lake and taught us about the Tasman Glacier.  While we were sitting closest to the glacier enjoying the novelty of sitting at the edge of a glacier we heard a loud crack.  Bede told us it was the glacier cracking and the rocks sitting on top falling down into the crack – it was so cool!  The trip with Glacier Explorers was something we decided on really late in our trip, but it was definitely one of the best things we did.  Here are a few of the amazing photos we took on the tour:

Charles and an ice berg

Tasman Glacier

Glacier Explorer's Tour of Tasman Glacier

 Martin recommended a hike to Charles while we were walking back to the van.  We had a couple of hours until the sun would set so we decided to hike to Kea Point and see what we could see.  As we were walking Charles and I heard the cracking of the hanging glaciers and were hoping to see an avalanche.  We turned a bend and could see the hanging glaciers and we kept watching and hoping to see a large chunk break off and tumble down the mountain.  We weren’t so lucky, but we did make it to Kea Point and got some great pictures of the hanging glaciers.  As we were leaving we heard some more cracking, but couldn’t see the falling ice and snow.  It was getting late and I was worried about getting back in time before dark.  So, I rushed us along with the argument that we could watch for hours and not see any avalanches.  Charles was joking as we continued our hike back to the campervan and said he would make the glacier fall using Jedi powers.  He turned around and focused on the mountain and waved his hand, and it happened!!  We couldn’t believe it we laughed and pointed and watched as the avalanche fell down the mountain.  Here are some photos:

Charles using the force

Success.

Amazement.

The force is with us I guess.  

We hiked back to Ark II and arrived just as the sun was setting.  As we were driving out of Mount Cook National Park we saw this:

Our plan was to stay at a holiday park in Lake Tekapo that night and then go to Christchurch the next morning to return the campervan.  We arrived at the holiday park and were rather surprised by the unfriendly nature of the staff and the high price of the tariff for the powered site.  But, we were tired and it was dark, so we went ahead and stayed.  We found a place to park the campervan, plugged in the power cord, and turned on the gas.  We cooked one last meal in the campervan and turned in for the night.  The next morning we opened the door to the Ark II to go to the bathrooms and were greeted with a beautiful view of Lake Tekapo.  It was clear why this holiday park wasn’t focused on friendly service or luxurious facilities, the view alone probably allows them to sell out every day.  It was a beautiful view of the lake with the mountains beyond.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to spend hanging out since it was our last day in the Ark II.  One last time we went and washed our dishes in the kitchen, showered in the coin operated showers, unplugged our campervan, turned off the gas, made sure the bed was put away, all the drawers were locked, all loose items were put away, and away we went.  

We reached Christchurch a little earlier than we needed to so we decided to stop at a park for a lunch.  I programmed a park into our GPS, which we endearingly referred to as Simon at this point, and we drove along.  Unfortunately Simon was not telling us when we reached the park and so we would pass it by and he would tell us to drive on to the Wilderness office in Christchurch.  Finally after the third time of trying to program a destination, we just decided to stop alongside a park in a neighborhood.  There we had a lunch of leftovers – one ham sandwich, crackers, cheese, and hummus.  While we sat there we listened to the first decent radio station we had heard in weeks and enjoyed our last few minutes hanging out in our campervan. 

About 20 minutes later we pulled into the Wilderness offices and asked where we could find a place to refill our gas bottle for the stove.  We were sent down the road a ways to run this last errand and then headed back to fill out paperwork.  Once that was completed one of the guys at Wilderness, Mike, offered to drop us at our hotel.  Overall our experience with Wilderness was fantastic!  So, if you ever find yourself needing to rent a campervan in New Zealand, I definitely recommend Wilderness.  

Mike dropped us off at the Merivale Manor Hotel and we checked in.  The room was huge and there was free internet, we felt like we were living in the lap of luxury.  We had our very own bathroom inside our room and it had a shower!  We were so excited.  Charles went for a run and I decided to do a little writing.  After a couple hours of down time we walked down the street for dinner and reflected on our time in New Zealand.  We were both a little sad to be leaving the next morning.  That night I set up the computer to upload the pictures from our trip to our SmugMug account.  You can find all the pictures here.  

About an hour before our alarm went off I felt the bed start to shake, I realized it was an earthquake tremor, it only lasted a few seconds, but it was unsettling.  I whispered to Charles when it finished and asked if he felt it, he said he had.  The alarm went off around 6:45 and we woke up for our 7:30 shuttle to the airport and said farewell to New Zealand. 

Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch late in the evening and were lucky enough to get a powered campsite at the holiday park.  It was by far the most crowded park we had been to, and getting into our spot was a little difficult.  We were supposed to park between a tree, a rock, and a light post.  With some maneuvering we managed pretty well.  We decided we would try cooking in the communal kitchen that night, we hadn’t done it yet, but it seemed like it might make cooking and washing a bit easier.  So, we took our supplies into the kitchen and found a cook top.  I was in the process of making taco soup (yes, I reverted to easy recipes that I would make at home).  An Australian man asked me if I was just beginning my holiday.  I told him that we had been travelling for almost two weeks, but had just recently arrived on the South Island.  He then told me a little about where they had been and recommended a holiday park in Queenstown and Wanaka.  After that we began talking to another couple, who had just finished travelling the South Island, they gave us a few of the same tips and we talked about where they had been and where we were going.  

Once we were finished chatting with other campers we sat down to enjoy our taco soup and take in some New Zealand television – the first we had seen since Auckland almost two weeks before.  The show that was on was similar to the American show Four Weddings that is on TLC.  It was pretty entertaining and gave us some insight into what prime time tv is like in New Zealand. 

The next morning we decided to go into Christchurch for coffee and breakfast.  I programmed our GPS to take us to downtown Christchurch.  As we grew closer we realized that the city that was mapped out in the GPS was not the city we were entering.  We had heard from people we met on our trip through New Zealand that Christchurch was destroyed, but we had no idea until we arrived what they meant.  I knew there would be crumbled buildings and reconstruction, but it was so much worse than I pictured in my mind. 

 

We found a place to park on the outside of the fenced in Central Business District and walked around a fenced off bridge to cross the Avon River.  What we found was a small commercial area made up of shipping/train containers repurposed to make shops and cafés.  Since we hadn’t had breakfast we stopped into a container café and ordered scones and coffee – a flat white for Charles and a latte for me.  As we sat there in container city we discussed the similarities to Katrina in New Orleans and also the extreme contrast between a disaster zone of a hurricane and that of an earthquake.  The thing that stood out the most was the extreme sense of community that seemed to flow through the city.  The simplicity of those containers holding the shops and restaurants that brought the city back to some sense of normalcy was incredible. 

Re:Start Cashel Mall - Container City

Container City in Christchurch

The previous day we had discussed taking a tour through the Red Zone of the Central Business District of Christchurch, and after seeing what we found when we arrived in the downtown area we decided that was the best way to see what the city once had been.  We went and signed up for the tour and while we were waiting for the next tour to start, we walked through the city’s botanical gardens.  They were beautiful – filled with tulips and daffodils and pansies.  

Sequoia in Christchurch Botanical Gardens

 The tour was conducted from a bus and all passengers have to sign a release acknowledging that they are entering the red zone, which is highly fragile and dangerous due to unstable buildings.  Once all of us agreed to proceed with the tour we were off with our guide from the Christchurch museum to explain the surroundings.  We wound through the town as she pointed out facts about the earthquake – there have been 12,000 aftershocks since the original earthquake in September 2010, the clock tower near the center of town is stopped at the time the earthquake hit, 70% of the buildings in downtown will end up being deconstructed, the city of Christchurch will be much smaller after rebuilding…..

Clocktower stopped on the time the earthquake struck

Twinkle-toes deconstructing a building in CBD Christchurch

The facts went on and on and the destruction seemed never ending, and yet there was so much hope and so much pride in the city.  It was uplifting to see how excited the citizens were about the plans for their city.  There is so much vision that I can only imagine that it will once again be a great tourist destination sometime soon.  

Containers holding up the wall of a building

Cathedral in Christchurch

After our tour of the Red Zone we went back to the Re:Start Cashel Mall to have lunch.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the container district was full of people eating and shopping and living their lives.  It really amazing to see the vision for the city of Christchurch, I hope to come back one day to see it completely rebuilt. 

Sauvignon Blanc and Baby Seals

We arrived in Blenheim on Monday around lunchtime.  We knew we wanted to check out the Marlborough wineries while we were in Blenheim, but otherwise we didn’t really have an agenda.  Our first stop was at the town information center, where we were able to book a wine tour for the next day.  Next up, we had to figure out lunch.  The bartender, Derek, at the Portlander in Wellington told us we should have lunch at the Brancott Estates Heritage Center, because of the amazing view.  We were out of groceries and needed to go to the store, so our first thought was that we should take care of that and just make sandwiches for lunch, but instead we decided to put it off and go to the Brancott Estates.    After all, you should never grocery shop on an empty stomach, right?  

I tried to use our trusty GPS device to navigate us to the restaurant, but because it’s so new, the address wouldn’t pull up when I typed it in.  So, we were left with the old fashioned map that we got from the information center in town.  We knew it was near the airport so we took the turn down the road that led us in that general direction, eventually we found the correct road and made a left turn.  We found it. We turned into a drive that led us through field after field of grape vines.  Atop a ridge just ahead of us was a modern building with large glass windows perched narrowly on the edge of a hill.  We parked and made the steep walk up to the Heritage Center.  

Charles driving in Marlborough wine country

We walked in and I felt instantly under dressed.  One thing about this type of travel is that you have a very limited outfit selection.  This restaurant was the type of place where I would normally want to have on nice jeans and boots with a cute sweater and scarf, my hair fixed, makeup on – basically showing I had some interest in my overall appearance.  Instead I was un-showered, with my hair in a ponytail, a smidge of mascara on, and the same jeans, Brooks running shoes, and fleece I had been wearing for weeks.  Oh well, it was wine tasting time, so no point in focusing on my atrocious appearance.  

  

We sat at a table, with a beautiful view of the vineyards and mountains and our waitress greeted us.  She told us the specials of the day, they all sounded wonderful, and overly indulgent for a lunchtime meal.  I decided on their salmon dish and Charles went with their fish of the day, which was Monk fish.  After we ordered our lunch, our waitress suggested we go over to the tasting counter to sample some wines.  We started of course with a Sauvignon Blanc which was wonderful.  We learned that Marlborough’s sunny warm days and cool mountain nights are what make the Sauvignon Blanc grapes do so well in this region and make the wines they produce so full of citrus fruit taste.  Next we tried a Chardonnay, which we both really loved.  They don’t make many Chardonnay’s in Marlborough, but this one was wonderful and buttery.  We also tried a Pinot Noir, which was also very good, it is the other grape that grows very well in the Marlborough region.   

Wine tasting at Brancott

 After our tasting we went back to our table and waited for our food to arrive.  As she set the plates in front of us I knew we were in for a good meal, the food was beautiful.  Charles and I both agreed that this was definitely the most gourmet meal we have had since we left Los Angeles.  After lunch, we took a few photos and then went to find where we were parking the campervan for the night.   

Lunch at Brancott

We checked in and decided to go into town to get food for dinner and check out the center of town.  We walked around the shops and squares to see what the town had to offer.  We stopped in Seymour Square to hang out for a bit, Charles worked on a painting and I did a little writing.  Then, we wandered back through town towards the Ark II. After our run to the grocery store we loaded everything in the fridge and compartments and headed back to the holiday park.  We have gotten used to the fact that almost every holiday park has movies to rent, so we were surprised to find out that this particular holiday park had no movies at all.  The campervan is pretty quiet dark and there isn’t much to do in the way of entertainment at the holiday parks, so we have come to look forward to a nightly movie.  The woman working at the holiday park recommended a movie store down the road, so we drove down to pick something up.  We were happy they loaned movies without a membership if you were willing to put down a $10 bond.  We picked out two movies since we were planning to stay two nights in Blenheim, we chose Contraband with Mark Wahlberg and Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd.  We watched Contraband the first night, which was a great thriller/action movie.   

Tuesday morning we had our usual breakfast of muesli, yogurt and fruit with coffee.  Then we headed into town so Charles could get a haircut.  After his hair cut we went into a shoe store to look around.  I only brought my running shoes and a pair of ballet flats and was hoping to pick up a cheap pair of shoes since it’s a little too cold on the south island for ballet flats.  I found an inexpensive pair of boots and was quite happy.  We went back to the holiday park and got ready to go on our wine tasting.  

We were picked up by Jonathan with Bubbly Grape Tours at noon.  There was one other couple doing a half day and then we would be joining five others who were on a full day tour.  Once we had everyone assembled we began our drive to the first stop, Spy Valley.  I was really excited to go to Spy Valley, because it is one of my favorite Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs to buy at home.  

Spy Valley is in a valley that houses surveillance satellites that are part of the Echelon project, hence the name.  We learned that the estate uses lots of little plays on the fact that it is in this unique valley – they have a wine called Echelon and they have Morse code on all of their bottles.  The wine was really good, all of it!  It was definitely my favorite stop of the day.  As we were leaving we looked at the display cases near the door and were surprised to see that Spy Valley wines won awards at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Wine event.  Next we went to Giesen wines where we had some more good wines.  Then we stopped for lunch, I had a great pumpkin and goat cheese panini – delicious!  Then, more wine tasting this time at Bouldevines.  Of course our favorite of all the wines we tasted were the sauvignon blancs – each winery had several different ones, since that is what Marlborough specializes in.  

Spy Valley

Spy Valley

 After all that wine tasting we decided that our plan for the late afternoon evening would be pretty simple – make dinner and watch a movie.  So, we made dinner in the campervan and watched Wanderlust.  It’s hilarious.  If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it.  The next morning we decided to do a hike that Johnathan our guide on the wine tour suggested.  It was great, it offered amazing views of Blenheim and the ocean and we got to see tons of sheep, lambs, and cows.  

Hiking in Blenheim

After our hike and some lunch in the campervan we set out for Kaikoura, which is a small town on the east coast of the South Island that is known for whale watching.  We had heard from Derek at the Portlander that we could see baby seals in a waterfall just north of the town, so that was high on our priority list.  We arrived in town in the late afternoon and went straight to the center of town, which consists of one main street that is about three blocks long.  We went into a few shops and got suggestions about things to do in town, and learned again about the place to see the baby seals.  We stopped into another shop to check out winter clothing, because it was freezing in Kaikoura.  Charles got a fleece which has been a great purchase because the South Island is much colder than the North Island.   We went to check into our Holiday Park and decide on our plan for dinner.  We found the Top 10 park and checked in and decided to walk into town for dinner instead of cooking.  It was only about a 5-10 minute walk into town, and although it was freezing, it was so nice to be able to walk instead of drive the Ark II into town.  We found a pub called the Whaler and settled in for dinner by the fire.  

The next morning we got up to go see the baby seals.  We drove the Ark II back up the coast a bit to the Ohau Seal Colony.  There is a Department of Conservation trail that takes you up a stream to a waterfall, when the seals have pups they take them up the stream to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall while they go out to sea to feed.  We started the hike and began seeing seal pups playing in the stream. Then we got to the top and there were dozens of seal pups playing below a huge towering waterfall.  It was amazing.  It was like watching an exhibit at the zoo, except we were in nature and we were standing five feet from the seal pups.  

Baby seal pup jumping

That afternoon we planned to get lunch and find a place where Charles could do some painting and I could do some blogging.  Since Kaikoura is known for crayfish (or lobster as we would call it in the U.S.) we thought we should make sure to have some while we were there.  Kaikoura means “meal of crayfish” in Maori, so it was a necessity.  We had asked in town where we should go and everyone said to go to the Original Kaikoura Seafood BBQ, so that’s where we went.  It’s a food stand on the side of the road just outside of town.  We had crayfish fritters for lunch and Charles had their seafood chowder, it was all wonderful.  We sat outside at the tables next to the food stand and enjoyed the food, the fresh air, and the view.  Afterwards, we got ice cream!  Ice cream is huge in New Zealand, they talk about it on the radio all the time, so we had been wanting to get some for a while and we finally found a good spot.  It really was delicious.  

New Zealand Ice Cream in Kaikoura

 After our ice cream we decided we should get on the road and stop somewhere along the way for Charles to paint.  Here is the spot we chose:

Afternoon stop in Kaikoura to paint and write

It was a little cold, but it was worth it because the view was so amazing. 

Next up Christchurch....

Napier, Hastings and Wellington

Napier and Hastings are small seaside towns just a few miles apart, both were completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.  According to our guidebook the towns were destroyed in two and a half minutes by the 7.8 earthquake, and in the weeks following the earthquake there were 525 aftershocks recorded.  When the towns were rebuilt the art deco style was at the height of popularity, and so, both of the towns are full of art deco buildings, squares, clock towers, light posts, sculptures, etc.  We spent an afternoon walking around the Napier and the next morning exploring Hastings.  Both of the towns were small and seemed pretty quiet, although the information center said it is quite busy in the summer months. In Napier there was a little museum called Opossum World, we had to walk in to check it out.  Apparently the opossum has caused lots of problems in New Zealand, taking over the habitat of native birds.  So, they created this museum to teach about the opossum (which looks quite different than the opossums we are used to in Texas and Louisiana).  The strangest thing about the shop is that they sell hats and gloves and sweaters made from opossum and merino wool - weird! 

Charles at Opossum World

After Hastings we made our way to Wellington.  As we were making our way South on the North Island we kept hearing people referring to the windy weather in Wellington and hearing references to “windy Wellington.”  We had no idea until we arrived how true those statements could be.  The day way arrived in Wellington the winds were gusting so hard that a flight from Auckland had two failed attempts at landing in Wellington and had to fly back to Auckland. Finally, on the third attempt the plane was able to land.  We arrived into the city in the late afternoon and had heard reports on the radio of roads being closed due to wind conditions.  Sure enough, we began seeing signs for road closures.  We were very thankful that the road that we needed to get to our campsite was not the one that was closed.  

We checked into our campsite and began getting ready to go into town.  We arrived in Wellington on Saturday, September 8th so that we could go to the All Blacks vs. Argentina rugby game.  Seeing the All Blacks play was high on Charles’ priority list and I was actually very excited to see the tribal dance they perform at the beginning of the game called the Haka. We took a taxi from our holiday park to the stadium and since we were about an hour and a half early we stopped into a pub to have a beer.  While inside the pub we met three kiwis, who were happy to share their love for rugby and the All Blacks with us.  Their names were Paul, George, and Shane and we chatted about the sport and about our travels on the North Island.  We love the kind kiwis we seem to meet everywhere we go!  After our beer we walked over to the stadium, trying not to fly away in the Wellington wind.  

About to walk into the game - windy Wellington

 

I should let Charles tell you about the rugby match, because he would probably be better at describing the level of excitement in the arena, but he’s out painting, so you’re stuck with my account….

The pre-game show was the Wellington International Ukelele Orchestra, they were quite entertaining!  After the ukulele band was wheeled off the field the teams marched out onto the field.  The game opened with the national anthems first Argentina and then New Zealand, both were beautiful and gave me chills to listen to, but it was particularly exciting when all the fans began to sing along to the New Zealand anthem.  The field was cleared and the teams took their places.  Now, the big event, the tribal dance was about to begin.  The All Blacks all huddled together facing the other team and began chanting and stomping.  Everyone in the stadium was standing and watching this famous ritual, it was very cool.  To watch the Haka from the game on YouTube click here.  Once the Haka ended the game began.   

Watching rugby live is very exciting, it’s like a watching a football game where there are constant fumbles and turnovers.  Someone has the ball and begins to run, then he is tackled and as he falls to the ground all the players around him pile on top, then he tosses the ball out to someone else, the person who receives the ball then runs as far as he can before he is tackled and the whole thing happens all over again.  There is also this thing they call a scrum, where both teams assemble in a half circle facing one another, then they all bend over and wrap their arms around one another and then lock head to head with the opposing team.  Once they are all locked into a circle a team member tosses the ball into the middle of the circle and both teams try to kick or push it to their team’s side.  Watching the game definitely gave me an appreciation of the physical nature of rugby – those guys were getting beat up!  I really should probably do more research on the rules, but from watching that’s about as much as I’ve figured out.  

Charles at the All Blacks game

 The game was close for the first half although the All Blacks didn’t score a touchdown (not sure if that’s what they call it) they were in the lead at half time due to field goals (again, no idea if that’s what it’s called when they kick the ball through the goal, but that’s what I’m calling it).  During half time the ukulele band came back out to perform a few songs and as the performance was wrapping up they set off some pyrotechnics.  I can’t call them fireworks, because it really seemed more like three small explosions in the center of the field.  As they went off I could feel heat blasting toward me and was a little concerned, until I realized that it was part of the half time show.  A few seconds later all the lights in the stadium went out.  Later we found out it had nothing to do with the pyrotechnics and was instead due to a power failure in the city.  It took about 20 minutes for the lights to come back on, then the game resumed.  In the end, the All Blacks won, the score was 21 -5.  It was very exciting when they scored the touchdowns, especially since it was on our end of the field.  Overall the game was lots of fun.  I was happy that we stayed dry and fairly warm during the game, despite the swirling rain and wind, and I was glad that we made sure an All Blacks game was part of our New Zealand itinerary.  

The Scrum

After the game we made our way out of the stadium with all of the other fans and found the bus stop so we could get back “home” to the Ark II.  It was about a 20 minute bus ride back from the city to our holiday park and we were happy to settle into our campervan and have a snack before bed. 

Sunday we woke up and took the bus into the city, stopped for coffee and breakfast at a café in Wellington, then made our way along the harbor to Te Papa, which is the National Museum of New Zealand.  The museum is massive, 5 floors of information, but we only covered 2 floors.  The 2nd floor is mainly focused on the geothermal activity in the world, the evolutionary history of New Zealand, explanations of the earthquake fault lines, interactive displays for kids on the layers of the earth and plate tectonics, animals and plants native to New Zealand, and much more.  Next we went to the 4th floor which covered information on the treaty between the British and the Maori tribes, the history of the settlement of New Zealand by both the Maori and Europeans.  

Walking along Wellington Harbour

After the museum we decided we would find Weta Studios, which is where the Lord of the Rings movies were made.  We took a bus out to Miramar and walked the few blocks to the studio, with the help of a lovely local who offered to walk us to the studio, because it was on his way home.  He explained to us that the studio has grown in popularity with tourists and that they even show a short movie to visitors telling about the studio and the work it does.  I told him I was surprised the studio was about 20 minutes outside of Wellington, and he explained that it was because the owner of Weta Studios started in Miramar and slowly bought up large chucks of the city around his original space.  We thanked our local guide and walked into the studio and had a look around.  There were props and sculptures from the movies and even some from other Peter Jackson films.  We watched the short informational film on the studios and were impressed at the artistic skill that makes up the Weta Studios.  It was well worth the stop.  

Charles and Gollum (Sméagol)

We rode the bus back into the city and strolled through the shopping area of Wellington.  I have been on a search for some New Zealand wool, I was hoping to buy a sweater or a hat, but can’t seem to find anything actually made here.  After asking around a bit, it seems that they don’t manufacture any wool here in New Zealand, it’s almost all exported to other countries.  So, I guess I’ll be returning without any wool.  After our failed shopping attempt we found an Irish Pub for an early dinner of fish and chips.  We walked into the pub and found an Irish band playing in the corner and dozens of people dancing around the bar.  We sat and enjoyed the music, a pint, and fish and chips while it started to rain outside.  We knew we had to catch the bus, but we still wanted to see a bit more of the city.  We walked back down the harbor, in the rain, and eventually made our way to the bus stop.  Unfortunately, the next bus wasn’t for another 30 minutes.  Instead of sitting in the bus stop, we decided to walk down to a pub and have a drink since it was only 6:30.  We went to Portlander, which is in a hotel, and ordered a glass of New Zealand Pinot Noir and a beer.  The bartender was Canadian and recognized our American accents.  We began chatting and he gave us lots of tips on things to do on the South Island.  We thanked him and went on our way to catch the bus back to the Ark II for the night. 

Monday morning we had to be checked in at the ferry terminal at 7:15 a.m., which meant we had to leave the holiday park at 6:45 a.m.  It was our earliest morning so far, but we made it and were checked in on time.  It took nearly an hour for us to board the ferry, but once we were on, it was a pretty calm ride across the Cook Straight.  

Getting onto the ferry